Drought, with the character for sun above and the character for dry below, combines to mean that the sun above is very fierce, and the ground below is very dry, lacking water.
Although our Great Qing's loyal bannermen receive money and grain upon reaching adulthood and do not need to farm, our Great Qing's loyal bannermen are, after all, still human beings and must have water to survive.
The key is that during such a severe drought, the Zhili region is also generally short of water, and our Great Qing's loyal bannermen do not know how to dig wells, nor are they willing to travel far to fetch water. Therefore, this matter has caused an uproar.
When the Eight Banners masters cause trouble, their power is truly extraordinary, like a celestial being farting – it's anything but ordinary.
No matter how down on their luck a master may be, they are still a master. No matter how formidable a servant may be, they are still just a servant. If a master doesn't bother you, it's because the master is magnanimous. But what if the master gets angry...
In short, the masters of the Upper Three Banners, who suffered from the drought, had nothing to do. They were also too lazy to carry water themselves, so they lay down at the gates of the government offices, cursing the county yamen.
Of course, these masters of the Upper Three Banners did not dare to lie down at just any yamen gate. It depended on which banner the official in the hall belonged to.
If they belonged to the Upper Three Banners, they definitely wouldn't lie down. If the yamen was managed by the Lower Five Banners or even a Han official, then they absolutely had to lie down, not only lying down but also having someone to serve them while lying down, to be comfortable.
"My ancestors followed Emperor Shizu into the pass, and they made contributions to the dragon's ascent. What's wrong with me lying down at your yamen gate? I want to!"
"See this forehead of mine? Let me tell you, this is the 'Heaven-piercing Pattern' that only the Plain Yellow Banner and the Bordered Yellow Banner have. You, a mere servant, try to move me? Are you rebelling?"
"What kind of world is this? My masters, the Upper Three Banners, are lying by the yamen gate to bask in the sun, yet these servants are sitting inside the yamen acting like masters. Truly, there's no place to reason with!"
"Hmph, so as a master of the Upper Three Banners, I end up not even having a servant to fetch water? What's going on, are you planning for me to fetch water myself? I'm telling you, scoundrel, no way!"
With the commotion caused by the Eight Banners masters, the officials of our Great Qing government became distressed.
To manage them?
It was definitely necessary to manage them, but how to manage them was a very troublesome issue. In any case, they couldn't be hit or scolded. They had to be appeased and persuaded with kind words. Otherwise, who knew which master was related to the Emperor?
The key was that when the masters of the Upper Three Banners caused trouble, the matter would reach the ears of that deaf old dog Qianlong.
This greatly angered the deaf old dog Qianlong.
The deaf old dog Qianlong summoned Heshen, the Grand Tutor, into the palace and asked with half-closed eyes, "Tell me, what exactly is going on outside? Why are our Manchurian Eight Banners causing trouble first?"
Heshen, the Grand Tutor, with his dead fish eyes, replied with a fawning smile, "Reporting to Your Majesty, those are some masters of the Upper Three Banners who, having nothing to do, went to bask in the sun at the yamen gate. It was unintentional to disturb Your Majesty. Your servant deserves a thousand deaths!"
The deaf old dog Qianlong however, gave a slight hum and asked, "Is it not just that?"
Upon being questioned by the deaf old dog Qianlong, Heshen, the Grand Tutor, immediately became nervous.
The claim that they went to the yamen gate to bask in the sun due to the drought was, of course, just nonsense. The real reason these Eight Banners masters were causing trouble was not solely due to the drought and lack of water.
These various convoluted explanations were merely what the officials of our Great Qing, from top to bottom, used to tell the deaf old dog Qianlong.
The real reason was that after the deaf old dog Qianlong adopted the "retracting the tortoise shell" tactic, our Great Qing court lost the tax revenue from the eighteen provinces of Han territory. Moreover, the deaf old dog Qianlong had used a large portion of the national treasury's silver to cast firearms and cannons. Consequently, there was less banner silver available in the national treasury to be distributed to these loyal bannermen.
When these loyal bannermen were recalled to Zhili by the deaf old dog Qianlong, they found that their living standards had declined significantly compared to usual. Furthermore, in Zhili, there were no longer the Han commoners whom they could arbitrarily bully as before. The masters of the Eight Banners now had to carry water and farm themselves. These factors, combined, were the true reasons for these loyal bannermen to cause trouble.
This was almost an open secret in our Great Qing court, but no one had ever revealed this truth to the deaf old dog Qianlong.
Therefore, Heshen, the Grand Tutor, wondered why the deaf old dog Qianlong would suddenly ask about this matter.
Upon thinking of the true reason for the Eight Banners masters causing trouble, especially the word "banner silver," Heshen, the Grand Tutor, couldn't help but tremble.
Did His Majesty intend to discard the laborers after their work was done?
Upon thinking of this, Heshen, the Grand Tutor, immediately prostrated himself, adjusted his sleeves, adopted a posture of a dog and horse, and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty is wise."
"The reason why those people outside are causing trouble is indeed not just because of the drought. There is actually another reason, which is that after losing the tax revenue from the eighteen provinces of Han territory, the banner silver in our Great Qing's national treasury cannot be disbursed in full, which has led to some disturbances."
"Your servant had intended to contribute some of his own family's wealth to cover the deficit, and the outside would naturally not cause trouble. However, before your servant could send the silver to the national treasury, the matter had already alerted Your Majesty. Your servant truly deserves a thousand deaths and begs Your Majesty to punish him."
The deaf old dog Qianlong then gave a slight hum and said, "It's alright, this matter is not your fault. I am already very pleased that you know how to share my worries, so how can I punish you for this matter?"
Speaking of this, the deaf old dog Qianlong sighed again and said, "In the entire court, only you and the Second one proactively share my worries."
Heshen, the Grand Tutor, replied hurriedly, "Your Majesty, what are you saying? Your servant is Your Majesty's servant. Everything your servant has belongs to Your Majesty. Sharing Your Majesty's worries is what your servant ought to do."
The deaf old dog Qianlong hummed slightly again and said, "Has the Fifteenth Prince and Elethenbao made preparations to set out on the campaign?"
Heshen, the Grand Tutor, with a glint in his eyes, replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the Fifteenth Prince and Elethenbao have completed their preparations for the campaign. The Mongolian Eight Banners will arrive in Zhili in the next couple of days, and they can set out immediately once things calm down outside."
...
Zhu Zhongzhi, who was entrenched in Shanxi, was different from Zhu Zhongtao, who had previously occupied Henan.
Zhu Zhongtao had purely benefited from a stroke of luck. Although Zhu Zhongzhi also benefited from luck, before raising his troops, Zhu Zhongzhi was already quite wealthy. After the deaf old dog Qianlong issued an order to recall those loyal bannermen, Zhu Zhongzhi immediately recruited a group of local militia and unfurled the banner of opposing the Qing and restoring the Ming.
After unfurling the banner of opposing the Qing and restoring the Ming, Zhu Zhongzhi led his militia to fight east and west, north and south. After fighting one battle after another, he then established his capital in Taiyuan.
Although the provincial "Ming Dynasty" in Shanxi could not be said to be Zhu Zhongzhi's absolute rule, in reality, it was not far from it.
Furthermore, Zhu Zhongzhi, like Zhu Zhongtao who had previously occupied Henan, was also highly reliant on the local gentry and scholars of Shanxi. He treated these local gentry and scholars mainly with appeasement, so the entire Shanxi was quickly pacified.
However, to everyone's surprise, Zhu Zhongzhi, the newly instated seventeenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, merely appeared to rely on the local gentry and scholars. In reality, Zhu Zhongzhi meticulously read every issue of the "Menglianggu Report."
After diligently studying the articles published by Zhu Jinsong in the "Menglianggu Report," and after a period of careful consideration, Zhu Zhongzhi first established the "Shanxi Report" and then unhesitatingly targeted the eight "locust merchants" of the Manchu Qing.
Of course, Zhu Zhongzhi did not directly execute the eight locust merchants with open force. Instead, he arranged for these eight locust merchants to be exterminated by the Eight Banners soldiers of our Manchu Qing.
Yes, the eight locust merchants were annihilated by the masters of the Eight Banners who were recalled to Zhili by the deaf old dog Qianlong.
No one knew how the masters of the Eight Banners, who were in Zhili, managed to sneak back into Shanxi and annihilate the eight locust merchants.
In any case, this is what Emperor Zhu Zhongzhi reported in the "Shanxi Report."
After annihilating the eight locust merchants, Emperor Zhu Zhongzhi obtained a large sum of silver. With this silver, Zhu Zhongzhi neither built grand palaces nor used the money for personal enjoyment. Instead, he sent people with the silver to contact Zhu Jinsong in Shandong.
After establishing contact with Zhu Jinsong, Zhu Zhongzhi exchanged his wealth for firearms.
This was because before the deaf old dog Qianlong banned the "Illustrated Treatise on Military Weapons," Zhu Zhongzhi had seen a sentence in this book:
"What the barbarians fear most about China is firearms."
Recalling that our Great Qing had repeatedly suffered losses from Ming firearms before entering the pass, Zhu Zhongzhi began to accumulate firearms with all his might as soon as he stabilized his territory.
Therefore, when Elethenbao and the Fifteenth Prince Yongyan led their troops to Shanxi, they were met by Zhu Zhongzhi's partially formed firearm units.
Elethenbao and the Fifteenth Prince Yongyan were driven to distraction.
From the very beginning, Yongyan had been worried that Zhu Zhongzhi in Shanxi would be as difficult to deal with as Zhu Jinsong in Shandong. The partially formed firearm units under Zhu Zhongzhi's command also confirmed the Fifteenth Prince Yongyan's long-held concerns.
Of course, if it were only because of the limited number of firearms Zhu Zhongzhi possessed, Elethenbao and the Fifteenth Prince Yongyan would not have taken it too seriously. After all, Zhu Zhongzhi only occupied Shanxi, and not only were the firearms in his hands limited, but his soldiers were also mostly former commoners. Compared to our Great Qing's regular army and its endless supply of firearms, the odds were clearly in favor of our Great Qing court.
However, what Elethenbao and the Fifteenth Prince Yongyan did not expect was that not only had the traitor Zhu Zhongzhi developed firearm units, but this scoundrel had also imitated the traitor Zhu Jinsong of Shandong by publishing a "Shanxi Report." Furthermore, he had people widely propagate the good deeds our Great Qing committed when it entered the pass.
For example, in the sixth year of Shunzhi, our Great Qing once massacred the entire city of Datong, leaving only five survivors.
For example, in the sixth year of Shunzhi, Bolo, Mandahai, and others carried out large-scale massacres in Fenzhou, Tai'gu County, Mizhou, Zezhou, and other places in Shanxi, killing approximately 400,000 civilians.
For example, the Yangzhou Ten Days Massacre.
For example, the Jiading Three Massacres.
In short, before Elethenbao and the Fifteenth Prince Yongyan led their troops to attack Shanxi, Zhu Zhongzhi had already sent people to widely publicize the good deeds our Great Qing had committed when it entered the pass.
Zhu Zhongzhi also sent people to widely propagate that our Great Qing's Eight Banners were now so useless that they couldn't even eliminate a single Zhu Jinsong, so everyone had nothing to fear. Since the Qing intended to attack Shanxi again, they should fight them to the death.
Simply put, apart from Zhu Zhongzhi not extensively organizing peasant associations and not paying too much attention to the poor masses, he was basically following the example of Zhu Jinsong, the top rebel leader of Menglianggu.
For example, strict military discipline, not harming the populace, restoring Han attire, emphasizing firearms, and vowing to fight the Qing to the death.
Facing this copycat bandit leader, Zhu Jinsong, Elethenbao and the Fifteenth Prince Yongyan could only cry without tears.
Fight?
Not only did they have well-trained troops, but the common people also supported them. On the contrary, our Great Qing army had to be vigilant wherever they went.
Don't fight?
The recovery of Shanxi was the deaf old dog Qianlong's imperial decree. Failing to complete the deaf old dog Qianlong's decree would displease him, and the consequences of displeasing the deaf old dog Qianlong would be very severe.